Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review: ( 2 Customer Reviews )

Excellent PerformancesNovember 18, 2014By M. Bishop (Clackamas, OR)See All My Reviews"You probably won't find an album of Brahms' complete piano quartets that is finer than this one. There are many alternatives, but I chose the Beaux Arts Trio with Walter Trampler. The Beaux Arts Trio is a group well-respected for their musical excellence, as is amply demonstrated in the performances here. The piano playing is a natural extension of the other moving parts of the quartet. They do an awesome job of interpreting Brahms, almost as well as they did in interpreting Mozart's piano quartets. All said, this purchase demonstrates excellent performances, and I highly recommend this album."Report Abuse

Great Quartets by Brahms.October 21, 2014By Tony Engleton See All My Reviews"10-20-2014 Here are guest violist Walter Trampler with members of the Beaux Arts trio in a collection of the complete piano Quartets by Johannes Brahms, recorded in May and June of 1973 in Switzerland for Philips Records. The individual works included are the Quartets in g-minor, c-minor A, and the piano Trio in A, op. posth. Total timing for this twin CD set runs 2 hrs, 32 minutes and about 52 seconds, generous indeed and as is customary, the folks at Philips have included a nice booklet with a fine essay by musical biographer, John Warrack, author of a wonderful bio of Tchaikovsky which I read many years back. There are also included other writings in French, Italian and German by other authors but I am not fluent in those tongues, alas. I just discovered I have this very same cd nut in Super Audiomfrom Pentatone and I may reviewif it next.... Artistic Impressions Brahms wrote these quartets in his later 20's and as such, they bare a certain fiery nature of passion and daring not found in his more aurumnal creations. As a young student listener, I was largely self-taught, and I was first attrackted to the piano concerti, then the 4th Symphony, the Academic festival overture and other large works. I recall being put off by both the Requiem and the Violin concerto,as their subrlties seemed to puzzleme. &quot;Why,&quot; I thought, are they considered masterpeices when they seem rather sedate and calm. As we progress through these works, they become smoother and less stormy and more calmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssskkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk and by the time we reach the c-minor quartet, the music has become quite the bit more creamy, gentle and even tender. And, for a fiery youth of nearly a mere 30 years old. Yet, the Brahms biological internal clock allowed this gentle and sensitive artist the freedom to write nostalgic and reflective music in the blaze of youth, and interiorly emotive material in his twilight years. I do think you will enjoy these fine piano quartets by Brahms, as clear evidence of his long, studious preparation for the 4 Symphonies he penned. one of the all-time great composer's in nearly every genre he attempted, except for ballet and opera, these can be cited as major works in and of themselves. Best wishes and God bless all of you, Tony. AMDG!!!!"Report Abuse